Women's Soccer Begins BIG EAST Play at Home with DePaul

Saturday, September 26

Cincinnati, Ohio

2 P.M.

Xavier University

DePaul

Women's Soccer Begins BIG EAST Play at Home with DePaul

09.25.15 | Women's Soccer

Musketeers and Blue Demons set to play Saturday at 2 PM

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - The Xavier women's soccer team (5-3-1) begin conference competition this weekend, hosting the 2014 BIG EAST Champion DePaul Blue Demons on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at the XU Soccer Complex. Live stats will be available from GoXavier.com and a live video stream will be available through the BIG EAST Digital Network.

Xavier is coming off a 0-0 tie after double overtime with crosstown rival Cincinnati. Junior goalkeeper Rachel Piccus collected a career high 13 saves to preserve the draw through 110 minutes of action.

DePaul moved to 6-2-2 on the season after the Blue Demons fell, 1-0, to Long Beach State at home last Sunday. DePaul was coming off a double overtime 0-0 draw at Loyola Chicago on Thursday, Sept 17.

SERIES HISTORY

Saturday's match is the third meeting between the Musketeers and the Blue Demons, with Xavier trailing 0-2-0 in the series all-time. The first match-up occurred during XU's inaugural BIG EAST season in 2013 when the Musketeers dropped a 1-0 decision at home. Last season, Xavier traveled to Chicago where Alexa Ben scored in the 58^th minute to give the Blue Demons the 1-0 win.

BIG EAST AND NCAA LEADERS

Xavier's offense leads the BIG EAST in creating opportunities for team mates, leading the conference with 2.44 assists per game through nine games, 13th highest in the country. The Musketeers' total assists (22) is the second most in the conference and 17^th most in DI.

Freshman Samantha Dewey lead the way for the Musketeers with five total assists, the most in the conference and 19^th most among all NCAA DI players.
The Musketeers also lead the conference in goals per game (2.33) and match DePaul for the most total goals at 21.

XU's points per game (7.11) leads the conference as well, ranking the 23rd in NCAA. Xavier has accumulated a BIG EAST-high 64 total points, the 21^st most in the country.
Dewey's total points (15) match Butler's Halle Stelbasky for second most in the conference. Her points per game (1.67) also stand as second most in the BIG EAST, while Keandie Carlson's 1.44 points per game stands at third.

BALANCED OFFENSIVE ATTACK

Through eight games, 13 different Musketeers have scored points after only nine did so for all of 2014. Xavier has more than doubled its offensive output for last season (10 goals) in just eight games, posting 21 goals thus far in 2015. Nine Musketeers have knocked in a goal, while 10 different Musketeers have collected assists.

The Musketeers' scoring effort is led by freshman Samantha Dewey and sophomore Kenadie Carlson who have each tallied five goals through nine games.

PICCUS EARNS ANOTHER HONOR

Junior keeper Rachel Piccus earned recognition from the conference office for a second-straight week, taking a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after setting a new career high for saves against Cincinnati. The Cleveland, Ohio native nearly doubled her previous career high, collecting 13 saves to preserve the 0-0 draw through two extra periods on Sunday.

This is Piccus' second weekly honor from the BIG EAST Conference after earning Keeper of the Week for the week of Sept. 14. She is the fourth Musketeer to earn recognition from the conference, joining Samantha Dewey (Rookie of the Week – 8/24, Weekly Honor Roll – 9/7), Tori Doss (Weekly Honor Roll – 8/24) and Kenadie Carlson (Weekly Honor Roll – 8/31). A Xavier women's soccer student-athlete has been honored in each week of the 2015 season thus far, as the Musketeers have surpassed the totals wins and doubled the number of goals from the 2014 season in just seven games.